


Forward momentum

by HeleneBuff



Category: 20th Century CE RPF, Actor RPF, American (US) Actor RPF, Astaire/Rogers RPF, Classic Hollywood Fadom, Dancers Fandom, Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers - Fandom, Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers Movies
Genre: 20th Century, American Actors - Freeform, American dancers, F/M, Follow the Fleet, Fred Astaire&Ginger Rogers, golden age of hollywood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 02:26:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20649677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeleneBuff/pseuds/HeleneBuff
Summary: This is a little one-shot on Fred&Ginger's time at RKO, during the production of "Follow the Fleet".





	Forward momentum

**Author's Note:**

> Hello fair people of the Golden Age of Hollywood!  
I had the most intense day yesterday and I totally didn't want to withhold that from you.  
I wrote a new fanfiction. I wont say much more for now because I really just had to get this out of my system but I don't know what to further do with it at this point.  
The idea was a one shot but I'm not sure how I will and could go on with this. There certainly is potential.
> 
> And yes, I'm still working on my other story ("Winter Taps"), I have an unfinished chapter going on.  
Without further ado - here it goes, I hope you like it!

**Forward momentum**

She was panting hard. 

She seemed to be sweating out of every pore and her heart was beating so fast, it almost knocked through her ribcage.  
This dancing routine for their new movie "Follow the Fleet" was really something, Fred dragged her forward, pushing her to new efforts and wanting to try something new every two or three steps.  
As thrilling as this process of creativity and raw creation was, she was tired. And not just tired but positively exhausted from yesterday and the day before and the day before.  
She had been joining this ride for more than a week now and the constant meeting up at 5 am in the morning and dancing 'till late at night was starting to wear her down. Groggily she looked over at Fred, inspecting his silhouette in the big mirror as he did yet another backwards jump and tap.  
Where this man took all the energy from was beyond her, he had barely eaten more than a bowl of soup all day.  
It was now nearing 9 pm and the autumn sky outside of the window was completely dark already.  
She sat on the small wooden bench, still trying to catch her breath and decided she would break the routine here, maybe he didn't have to eat anything but she was hungry.  
"Freddie...!", she started speaking, her voice sounding much more faint to her than usual. She wrinkled her forehead.  
Fred must've noticed something too because he immediately stopped in his movement and looked at her. Sweat running down his forehead, he crooked out a laboured "Yes, Ginge?" and eyed her up.  
She gasped but then said "I really need to eat something, Fred, I haven't had a bite since this morning, I'm beat."  
He paused for a moment but then thought better of what he wanted to say and instead nodded, coming towards her and sitting down on the bench next to her. "You're right, we have been working all day. Grab something to eat for yourself while I continue for a bit, I want to finish this part while I'm still really in it."  
"Okay", she said and got up, wiping her face with a handkerchief, "I'll go get some fresh air and walk over to the lunch room, see if they still have anything. Do you want something?"  
"No thanks, I'll have dinner at home. I need to get this out, I'm sitting on ants right now!", he replied, smiling sheepishly. She smiled back knowingly and gave him a slight nod.  
"Alright, I'll be back in 15 minutes, see ya!", with that she walked out.  
Wobbled rather, she had to steady herself on her way to the door. 'This is not so good', she thought, and she really hadn't eaten much but exerted herself to the limits.  
It was just hard to interrupt Fred in his enthusiasm, especially when he was so particularly creative as he was today. 

Fred eyed her warily as she left the rehearsal room.  
He never noticed himself but they should probably take a break more often, at least for her. She had a very strong stamina and a will to work herself to the brim but even he always lost a couple of pounds during this process and he had noticed that she had lost weight considerably as well and he wasn't going to risk her health for a dance.  
He really enjoyed their work together so much, especially when they could rehearse undisturbed.  
He just lost track of time often and was so absorbed in his dancing that he didn't notice when the fun started to wane down for her and she needed some rest.  
Well, for now she was cared for and as long as she walked around the studio grounds only, she was safe. Later he would make sure to drive her home, there was no way he would let her wander around the streets in this darkness, especially not when she was so beat up from the day.  
He jumped back up, he needed to get this routine finished, everything inside of him needed to dance this out! When she came back he could show her the completion of what they had been working on all day. That excited him even more, so he scurried away and back in front of the mirror. 

Meanwhile Ginger was enjoying the fresh autumn air, it was rather quiet at this time although there were still some shootings going on here and there in other studios.  
The big studio 7 was still lit as she could see, so Helen was still working, too. They were filming a bit of a thriller there, "Murder on a Bridle Path" it was called if she remembered correctly, and had a lot of night-shots. Helen Broderick was complaining a lot but Ginger usually came in before her and left after.  
So she didn't feel too bad for taking her well-deserved break.  
The air was cool but not displeasingly. She took a deep breath as she walked to the lunch room.  
Usually they still had some sandwiches for the later folks and she could probably devour three of them at once. Oh she really should take better care of herself, she felt dizzy and overworked.  
She had lost about 15 pounds during the last few weeks and she wasn't sure if Fred was already picking up on this. She was not at ease with her body.  
She was trying not to emphasize it through her clothing but seeing how close to each other their bodies were breathing and moving all through the day, she doubted he didn't notice the change. But he at least hadn't said anything.  
And had she not said anything herself, he wouldn't even have worried a bit about her wellbeing, she thought to herself disgruntledly. Talking about priorities. 

A foreboding overcame her with a shivering feeling, that got her very frightened, so she put her focus back onto the door of the building in front of her and took another deep breath.  
Inside there wasn't much going on, the whole room was only dimly lit at this time and she was the only customer.  
The sweat on her face had dried and she felt her cheeks being red from all the exercise.  
She paid the sleepy desk clerk for her three sandwiches and the Coke and sat down to eat her food alone at a small table.  
It felt so good to finally get some strength back into her body and she really managed to eat two of the three big pieces of bread.  
She gulped down her Coke and mumbled a quick goodbye as she hurried back to the rehearsal room. She had already taken longer than she had told Fred so she rushed quickly through the night. 

As she arrived, still trying to catch her breath, Fred was so excited to see her, he already inundated her with words about his latest accomplishment and wanted to show her right away how their dance would be completed.  
She still felt a little dizzy from the quick walk but she took off her coat as he already pulled her in front of the mirror.  
She suddenly felt very anxious but went with it as Fred pulled her into his arms and onto the last steps they had worked out together.  
"See here...", he said feveredly as he moved them both in a quick swing towards the mirror, "...here we do a step back and then right around, we turn and do a big jump!"  
He flung her around and they jumped off but she wasn't quick enough to adjust to the movement and couldn't grip onto Fred's shoulder fast enough. Eyes wide with panick, Fred trying to grab her arm and her waist for dear life but she slipped out of his hold mid jump and crashed right into the hardwood floor, sideways on her hip and back.  
He landed on his butt and twisted his leg a little but looked at her numb in his shock.  
She lay there stretched out on the floor, and didn't move, obviously in shock herself but after a terrifying moment of trying to breathe, realization suddenly overcame her, she screamed out "Oh God NOOO!" and started wailing in pain, which was actually way more terrifying to him.  
He snapped out of his stupor and quickly crawled over to her. Her frame was so tiny and frail, she was curling up into a ball.  
It broke his heart into a thousand pieces how she heaved there in pain. 

They often had little accidents, someone slipped or they lost balance and crushed onto each other. They could usually laugh it off right away and got themselves dusted off, no serious injuries, a twisted ankle maybe.  
And even if she had hurt herself badly, Ginger never cried. Never. 

Which was why, at this very moment, he was highly alert and aware that something must've been severely wrong.  
He knelt next to her and didn't know what to do, he carefully grabbed her around her torso and pulled her into his arms.  
He was alarmed yet again at how thin her waist was and how bony her shoulders felt.  
She had always been a petite woman and a literal featherweight but she had never seemed so emaciated.  
A thousand haunting thoughts descended upon him and he had a feeling that he had more to do with her under nourishment than he'd been willing to admit. 

She sobbed in his arms and seemed entirely inconsolable. With a shaky voice he tried to tell her that she was going to be alright and very carefully stroked her hair out of her face.  
She whimpered and scrunched up her face. What had he done.  
"Where's the pain, Ginge, where's the pain, is something broken, where are you hurting, baby?", he said desperately.  
But she just shook her head a little and grabbed onto his big hand. She almost crushed it but he didn't really notice any pain.  
She tried to catch her breath. "Back hurts...", she managed.  
He was so relieved that she said something!  
"I'm so sorry sweetie, do you think there is anything broken? I should probably call an ambulance...", he said hastily and wanted to get up to make the call but she grabbed him even harder.  
She tried very hard to slow down her breaths and looked up at him with a crushing pain in her eyes: "Freddie, I'm pregnant."


End file.
